The Trip
We made it back to the West Branch in early June as planned. We stayed at the West Branch Angler (WBA) for a few days and pretty much fished the West Branch the entire time. We did try the Mainstem for a couple of hours one day, but the water was a bit high for wading, and it was pretty dead. The West Branch was high when we first arrived, but it settled down pretty quick. The fishing overall was good, but challenging as usual. The weather was cold and wet, and not your typical June weather. There were some pretty bad thunderstorms, and a tornado hit Lordville on the Mainstem the night before we got there. It was cold enough to wear two shirts and a jacket during the daytime. We did get some nice hatches, however, and there were plenty of flies on the water. We caught a few fish here and there, and we had an incredible day out at Gamelands on Monday. It was one of our best days ever. Lots of fish, and lots and lots of water all to ourselves. It was heaven! There were some Green Drakes and other big flies on the water, but the fish didn't pay too much attention to them. There were lots of sulphurs, especially during the evening hatches. The trout were really slamming the sulphurs.

The Hatch
June is typically the best month for dry fly action up there. There are many different types of flies on the water, and the fish really have a field day. We caught the tail-end of the Green Drake hatch this time. There were quite a few big #8s and #10s sailing down the river. There were also some big Stenonemas coming off in a variety of colors and sizes. We fished large Coffin flies, March Browns, Grey Foxes, and Light Cahills to match these. There were also lots of Isonychias (Isos). Sizes ranged anywhere from #10 to #14 for the larger flies, and there were some rusty spinners in the #16 to #18 range, and lots of caddis flies. The fish took some of the larger flies, but tended to feed more on the smaller flies, like sulphurs, BWOs, caddis emergers, and midges. Smaller sulphur emergers (#16 to #18) were very effective during the evening hatches. The no-hackle, BWO CDC comparadun in sizes #16 to #20 worked really well during the day and early evening. I caught the biggest fish the first night on the West Branch, on a #14 black caddis. There were tons of black caddis there by the cabins the whole time we were there. I caught two really nice fish at Gamelands on a small #22 black midge emerger that I tied. They were just sipping away and ignoring all the larger flies I passed over their noses. I caught one of these fish on the very first cast with my midge, and a few minutes later hooked the second fish. That was fun! Jimmer hooked into a real nice fish the last night on a sulphur during a great hatch just upstream from the cabins. The fish took off downstream on him and eventually snapped his line. But there were plenty of fish rising, and we had a lot more action. So we used a variety of flies (and tons of tippet!) and caught some really nice wild browns. And, of course, we learned more about fly fishing for wild trout. Next stop, Montana!

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